Caithness GP patient no-show shame exposed
ABOUT 150 patients a week are failing to turn up for appointments in GP practices in Caithness.
The shameful no-show rate revealed in figures obtained by the John O’Groat Journal has led to an appeal to patients to show more co-operation to allow more people to be seen at clinics.
It has also led to at least one local practice implementing a crackdown and warning persistent offenders that they risk being struck off the list.
NHS Highland statistics for June and July show that a total of 1183 patients did not turn up for their appointments with doctors and nurses in the eight Caithness GP practices.
Managers of two town surgeries reckon the figures reflect the experience throughout the year, saying the number of no-shows is a constant problem. Riverview Practice in Wick saw the largest number of patients – 342 – who missed appointments without prior notification in June and July.
NHS primary care manager Fiona Duff says it is a problem not unique to Caithness with GP surgeries across the country suffering from similar problems.
“Some practices send out warning letters after a certain number of no-shows and some will remove patients from their list if they are a persistent “Do Not Arriver”.